This invention relates to a hinge for mounting a door such as a cabinet door for swinging between open and closed positions on a frame such as a cabinet. The invention more specifically relates to a so-called knife hinge having door and frame wings with blade-like portions which are received in a slot in the door. With wings of this type, the hinge is fully concealed from the front of the cabinet, and only a small portion of the hinge is visible from the hinged edge of the door when the door is in its closed position.
A knife hinge of this general type is disclosed in Youngdale et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,203,031. That hinge is a self-latching hinge in that it includes a mechanism for automatically latching the door as the door reaches its closed position and for thereafter releasably holding the door in the closed position. The Youngdale et al hinge, however, is relatively expensive in that the self-latching mechanism requires multiple components. In addition to the cost of the components themselves, there are significant costs involved in assembling the components with one another and with the remainder of the hinge.